Alex Steinherr X DryBy Nail Collection

If the recent fashion shows are anything to go by, nail art is currently catwalk king and as much as we can admire and Kira Kira it, the reality is that uber-enhanced, crystal-embellished nails aren’t an IRL practicality. So when beauty director and influencer Alessandra Steinherr started to collaborate with DryBy (every London beauty editor’s favourite hair and nail destination), a new category of nail art was born: the chic illustrated nail.

As someone who prefers to wear nude “ie. boring!’ polish, as Alex admitted, nail art hasn’t always been something that’s been a high priority for her. But with regular visits to DryBy, home to the best Shellac manicures in London and creators of mesmerising Instagram nail art, Alex started to curate her own, more subtle designs that catered to her more delicate tastes. From her red dot on a milky pink base, to lightning bolts and geometric lines, her Instagram followers soon picked up on it and started booking in and demanding the same nails. What started off as a personal preference, quickly became a social media trend.

“That’s when we knew we were onto something and started working to create different designs – eight in total – based on my signature look, which is my nude combination of CND Shellac Beau layered on top of Negligée on short nails, and building on top of that. It always has to be on short nails by the way! When I first started going, the team at DryBy would tease me about being boring and unadventurous and they tried to convince me to have some of their popular nail art, but I wanted to do it in a slightly more pared-down way. I designed it so you can have whatever twist you fancy… Change the red for orange on the Fade Away Lines design or if you want a more opaque background rather than sheer on The Constellation look, ask for Romantique as your base. There aren’t any rules.” Just our type of beauty trend. We’re hooked.